HELPFUL INFORMATION – Heating

Why Are Some Rooms Hot, and Others Are So Cold? Make the laws of nature work for you.

Now that you’ve settled into your new home, you may have noticed that some rooms will occasionally be hotter or cooler than others. Your upstairs bedroom may take longer to cool in the summer or the kitchen may be chillier in the winter.

Don’t worry! There may not be anything wrong with your system. If your home is multi-level, you will naturally experience the effect of warm air rising to the upper level and cooler air falling to the lower. In addition, solar gain can cause temperatures to rise in certain rooms. This is definitely the case in rooms with west-facing windows during the late afternoon. Forces of nature are not the only factors that will raise your home’s indoor temperature. Cooking and showering will cause the humidity of your home to increase. Even without a raise in temperature, higher levels of humidity can cause you to feel warmer and uncomfortable.

While the laws of nature (and the law of teenagers taking long showers) may be out of your control, you can use your home’s ventilation system to improve the situation. By adjusting or closing registers that are too cool in summer or too warm in the winter, you can divert conditioned air to rooms where you need it the most. By making the laws of nature work for you, you should be able to achieve even, comfortable temperatures in every room of your home.